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These profiles have kindly been provided to us by the artisans and their fair trade co-operative partners. We hope they give you a sense of understanding about by whom and from where our beautiful jewellery has been created. The profiles provide examples but are not exhaustive of the artisans we work with.
Maritza Quintero
Maritza has been creating glass art for over seven years from her workshop in the hills of Valparaiso, Chile. Before this, she studied for five years at the University of Fine Arts and has subsequently continued to develop her artistic skills on her own. She does not collaborate with other artisans, preferring to follow her own style, but always tries to stay informed of new techniques.
Maritza works seven days a week and up to twelve hours per day. Her sister helps her when she is particularly busy (usually in April and August). Her production process consists of cutting, cleaning, designing and enamelling the glass. The glass sheets are placed upon white clay moulds and then fired in an electric oven at 700°C for six hours.
Since joining a fair trade cooperative, Maritza has adapted to a more intensive production process. Her increased production has resulted in a greater income and an improved standard of living. She now travels a lot and participates in both local and international artisans fairs to stay abreast of different trends. Currently sixty percent of her pieces are sold overseas.
Jessica Palacios
Jessica Palacio was a medical technician before she began to create handcrafts with her partner Carlos Guerrero, an iron worker, seven years ago.
In their workshop, located in Limache, near Valparaiso, they employ ten other people to help create their glass jewellery. They currently rent quite a large space; however they still lack enough room to be able to employ more people and further develop new products.
Jessica and Carlos work eight hours per day, and often on Saturday and Sunday as well when they are particularly busy. They always try to create an encouraging and happy environment in the workshop. Their employees speak very positively about working with them. One said, "We learn to do everything and we have the opportunity to interact with a group of people and the work is really great".
They purchase their glass from a local Chilean producer and then cut it according to the desired form. The women in the workshop then paint it with special enamel pigments, following a design drawn by Jessica and her sister Ana Maria. They can also add in a product, CMC, that reacts with the temperature of the kiln to produce bubbles between the two layers of glass glued together. The kiln, hand-made by Carlos, is heated to 850°C - 900°C. The pieces are left in any of the five kilns in the workshop for between 30 minutes to one hour. Once they have cooled, the glass products are coated with a reinforcing agent and the process is complete.
They sell their pieces through their fair trade cooperative as well as in local fairs and Santiagos shopping malls. They would like to be able to extend their workshop so that they can initiate a more sophisticated line of products incorporating silver, and also so that Jessica can begin to create sculptures.
Juan Pablo Borcoski
Juan Pablo Borcoski is 35 years old, has two children aged 11 and 13 and his wife is a teacher. He learned his craft from a friend.
Juan Pablo has been an artisan since 1987. Initially he made silver jewellery, then also glass and iron items. He works 10 to 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. He has two helpers who work with him for 8 to 10 hours each day.
He has recently set up a new workshop in his mothers house. It has all the essential services he needs such as light, water and telephone. These cost him $80 a month in the winter but much more in the summer when he sells more items and uses the oven more frequently. Juan Pablo would like a bigger oven and a wider variety of colours to work with. He would ideally like to sell more items, creating a steady income and better working conditions for himself and his helpers.
His production process consists of cutting, cleaning, designing and enamelling the glass. The glass sheets are placed upon white clay moulds and then fired in an electric oven at 700°C for six hours. The origin of his handcraft is very old, but Juan Pablo utilises new designs and colours. He is always seeking new colours to play with, resulting in pieces that are not only delightfully beautiful, but also highly original.
Juan Pablo owns a shop in a market, so he can sell his products everyday. He sells 70% of his goods within Chile and 30% abroad. He says that the biggest problem of his daily professional life is that both society and the handcraft market he works within are so competitive. In his free time Juan Pablo likes to be in the open air and to travel. His dream is to travel forever.
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Necklaces
